The Dragon and the Mouse
by sammi1318
Summary: What if Duncan had gotten a mage before he went to Highever.What Loghain had charged. AU retelling of story. Loghain/Surana, originally written as an art exchange on DA. Now being beta'd and rewritten.
1. An odd start

Bioware owns Dragon Age. if I did, this would be canon.

-DA-

Duncan knew something was up when he arrived at the circle tower. The way the Knight-Commander greeted him was his first clue. The templars at the door simple let him in, no fight like the last time, and the Knight-Commander was just standing there.

" You are Duncan, head of the Grey Wardens, correct?" The older man asked. Duncan nodded, unsure what to make of what just happened. The last time he was here, he thought the knight-commander was going to decapitated him after he tried to take some of 'his' mages. The man that stood before him looked pleasantly relaxed, almost, if you squinted...happy to see him.

"I apologize for coming unannounced, I managed to secure travel into Fereldan much earlier than I had expected."

"It's quite alright Warden. We actually have been hoping you would come this way. We have a ...unique problem and I believe you can help."

The first thing that bothered Duncan was the 'we', who was the 'we' that the older man could be referring too and secondly, what problem would require him to solve. The Knight-Commander guided him up the tower to what looked like the First Enchanter's study. The man behind the desk, Irving if Duncan recalled properly, looked up and grinned. He waved his hand and said

" Close the door Greagoir, we don't need the entire tower listening in." Greagoir nodded and silently slid the door shut, then stood in front of them and clasped his hands behind his back. Irving raised an eyebrow and Greagoir tilted his head in Duncan's direction.

" Now you must be curios about what's going on" Irving said as he leaned back in his chair. Duncan simply found himself nodding again and said " Quite, I remember getting a much colder reception last time. What did he mean by ' you were hoping I would show up'?" Irving interlaced his fingers and sighed.

" Warden, we have a proposal, if you are willing to have an open mind,That will benefit both of us. It is slightly risky, but it is the only option we have. Are you interested?"

He was interested, there were very few thing that he knew that fit what they just described, and all of them were good news for him.

"So, what do you have in mind?"

" So this is what a harrowing looks like." Duncan muttered to himself. It was the middle of the night and there was at least five templars in the room, not counting the knight-commander, the first enchanter and a very confused mage. They were at the top floor of the tower. She looked half awake and fully scared, her half opened green eyes darting everywhere, trying to make sense of the situation. She was running her hands through her bright red hair in what looked like exasperation as Greagoir said what sounded like a rehearsed speech about power and demons. Then, surprisingly clasped his hand on her shoulder and said in a low concerned voice" Normally we would have waited a least three if not more weeks before we did this. But due to this...problem we are in we had to bump it up. Do you understand?"

She whispered what sounded like a yes and approached the stand filled with glowing liquid. As she touched the fluorescent liquid her entire body was enveloped by the light and there was a blinding flash. When he regained his vision, she was laying on the floor. Greagoir drew his blade, looked at him and stated " Now we wait."


	2. Hero worship

(Cerain has a dirty mouth in this. She is like this beause the memory of what happened is so colored that she is very bitter about the whole ordeal. It realy shows. For some reason I can't bring myself to change it. Don't worry, it's not like this later)

Cerain Surana never expected to meet a Grey Warden. She had read and reread, every book in the library on the Wardens. Harassed every mage that ever had contact with one an overall obsessed over them. There were two reasons behind the almost fan girl level of research she did.

One, because they fascinated her. They were living pieces of history. Relics of a bygone era. From what she could gather, they swoop down from where they come from, basically saved the day, and disappeared as fast as they appeared.

Secondly, there were the only chance she had of living past a year. She had fucked up big time and neither Greagoir or Irving could save her. She was probable the only person happy about the news to the south of a blight. It was the silliest of things, a single event had fucked her over so badly that it was almost funny. It wasn't the one time she had accidentally blown up a fellow apprentice's summoned nug . Nor was it the one time she had successfully stuck a templar to the ceiling.

It was connected to the time she had been turned into a blood mage's thrall. One of her classmates had decided that she was a perfect person to practice on due to her quiet nature, and to put it bluntly, took over her mind. She has almost no memories of the week he had her under her control. All she remembers from the time was hands almost out of nowhere and waking without remembering falling asleep in Greagoir's office, sitting on Cullen's lap of all places. She was covered in what looked like knife and bite marks and hurt all over. Cullen was snoring and drooling on her shoulder and Greagoir was reading and filling out paperwork. She had to clear her throat to get his attention because Cullen had her in a bear hug. It was odd, they didn't seem surprised that she had no memory, nor were they upset. It took a month for them to track down her kidnapper and deal with him. Then two months go by without incident, and she arrives. The bane of her existence and if she has her way, Cerain's Judge, jury, and executioner.

The woman she was speaking of is the Revered Mother of course. It apparently took her two months to get to the report and two day to show up a the tower, unannounced of all things. She strolled in like she owned the fucking place, and this for Cerain was the first sign she was bad news. She calls Greagoir and her up to **Greagoir's** own fucking office, perched at his desk like a fucking queen, ordering **Greagoir's** men around. At that moment Cerain decided that she didn't give a shit what this bitch said, she didn't like her.

"Greagoir, it has come to my attention that you had a problem with a blood mage, is this correct?" She sneered. Greagoir nodded and stated " We **had** a blood mage problem, it has been taken care of and we have seen no more instances of said events."

She did what could be best described as smirked and snapped " I'll be the judge of that!"

Then she promptly stated to go over his report with a fine toothed comb, occasionally asking questions, and mostly sending nasty glares in our general direction. It took her half the Maker given day for her to do this weird almost cross examination. By the time she was done Cerain was positive that both Greagoir and she was starving. She didn't know about him, but if her stomach growled any louder it would have waken the dead. She felt antsy and angry and a whole bunch of conflicting emotions that made her want to run. The thing that happened, well according to the report were troubling, to say the least. They had found her wandering around in the basement, covered in blood and speaking in tongues.

When the Revered Mother was done, she casually leans forward and points at me. "Was she the thrall?" She asked. Greagoir nodded and looked like he was going to say something before she cut him off with a question that will haunt Cerain as long as she lives.

" Why isn't she a tranquil?"

Greagoir just stared at her, and he wasn't the only one. Everyone in the room stared at her, like she had grown a second head. " Surana was cleared and has shown no sign of permanent damage. I see no reason to have her tranquiled." Greagoir snapped. Then he added " She is a competent apprentice that shows signs of being an outstanding mage, to tranquil her would harm us as much as her." Cerain couldn't believe it, Greagoir had defended her, not just that but had complimented her too. Now it was apparently the Revered Mothers turn to stare at Greagoir oddly. " Those are kind words for someone the Maker has cursed."

Before Greagoir could respond Cerain could not stay silent any more and asked the loaded question. " How am I cursed?". The Revered Mother looked angry and screamed. " HOW ARE YOU CURSED! YOUR KIND HAD THE HUBRIS TO GO INTO THE MAKERS HOUSE AND CHALLENGE HIM. YOUR MAGIC IS A CURSE AND IF I HAD MY WAY, ALL OF YOU **FREAKS** WOULD BE KILLED!" Before Cerain even thought she snapped back " Bitch, do you think I **asked** to be born with these powers!"

Cerain regretted it the moment it left her mouth. You could have dropped a pin in that room and it would have echoed. She started to stammer and fight or flight kicked in, hard. " I...uh...I...gotta...go and stuff...see you later Greagoir." And she ran. She ran blindly to the stock room and hid in a box. She had no clue how long she was there, but when she ran it was day, and when Owain pulled her out it was night. " Knight-Commander Greagoir has requested your presence, please leave my stock room."

Owain had handed her off to another tranquil, Sevren , and he practically dragged her to Greagoir's office. She heard arguing and Sevren shoved her inside.

To say she was yelled at would be an understatement. Screamed would be a more accurate term. That's when she found out that the Revered Mother wanted her head on a pike and used to warn others, and clean chamber pots of all thing. They told her that she was going to be cleaning pots till the Maker come back and if she didn't want to take a permanent trip the fade, she has to keep her head down.

For two months she followed their advice. She kept her head down, and also she cleaned until she was practically down to stumps. Then she saw him, the Grey Warden. The moment she saw him she new she was leaving. So when they dragged her out of bed that night she wasn't scared. No matter what happens, she thought as she walked up the steps of the tower, I will succeed. I** will **be a Grey Warden!


	3. On the road to Tomorrow

Duncan was waiting for the newly minted mage. According to Greagoir, she had finish the harrowing in record time. When he had asked why they were so ready to get rid of her, the other half of the story came out and it made perfect sense. She had done the unthinkable and cursed at the Revered Mother, effectively marking her for death. Instead of giving up his most accomplished apprentice, Irving buried her and waited for him to show up. That's why they only sent seven mages to Ostagar, They knew he would be sent there to encourage them to send more. It was clever, and it had the bonus of giving the Grey Warden the mage they desperately needed. Jagrumeer, their last mage, Had just received his Calling and went to Orzammar.

He heard a light knock on the door and watched the freshly made mage slip in.

" You called for me First Enchanter?" She weakly said. She had dark circles under her eyes and looked exhausted. " Ah, child we were just speaking of you. Congratulation on passing your harrowing. Her is your mage robes, staff, and ring. How are you feeling?" She just grinned and shrugged.

" Now, are you ready to travel?" Greagoir questioned. Duncan thought it was a stupid question, she looked like she was ready to collapse, but surprisingly she nodded and looked at him."Are we going directly to Ostagar?"

"No, since we have spare time, I would like to travel to Highever and grab a recruit there. Then we will travel to Ostagar." He replied. She smiled and said " You are going to have to teach me how to ride a horse."

Duncan couldn't help it, her smile was infectious and he grinned right back at her. "Do you a lot of stuff with you?" She shook her head.

"Just some books and the clothes on my back, I pack light." She chuckled lightly and Greagoir and Irving rolled their eyes. Good, Duncan thought. A mage with a sense of humor. She will fit in perfectly with Alistair. As they walked down the steps, both templars and mages were saying their goodbyes. As she walked through the doors that led to the outside world she just stopped. He thought she might be having a panic attack, as many mages have after being stuck inside a tower most of their lives, but she was downright happy.

" I forgot how big the sky was!" She gasped out. He couldn't help but chuckle. This was going to be an long trip if she awed by the sky.

" Hello there little one, it's been a long time since I've seen you!' Kester, the ferry man cheerful said. She grinned and peppered him with questions all the way across the lake. They spent all day showing her how to ride. Much to Duncan's relief, she was a quick learner. By the next day she rode like she had been doing it all her life. On the road to Highever she asked what he had planned.

" I have my eyes on a couple of their knights and on the Teyrns daughter. I doubt he will let her join, but it is always a possibility. Why" She blushed and stated that she had no clue how to act around anyone of status.

" The highest ranking person I've dealt with was the Revered Mother, and you heard how that turned out. I just need to know what to call them and if there is going to be any nasty surprises with them. That's all." He reassured her and told her that Teyrn Cousland is a personal friend of his and he has the highest of respects for Grey Wardens.

" Call him your grace and ser and you should be fine." he patted her on the back and she flashed a weak smile back at him.

They were sitting at the campfire and he asked her what spells she knew. She grinned and said." Winter's Grasp, Lightning, Arcane bolt, Walking Bomb, and Heal."

"Walking bomb? I confess I have never heard of that. How does that work?" He asked. Her grin widened and she said nonchalantly." It does a base spirit damage and continues to hurt them for twenty seconds. If at any point of those twenty seconds they die, they explode into a fine mist that hurts everyone around them. It's good crowd control and I imagine it would be one hell of a demoralizer. I mean if I saw my mate explode into a fine mist I wouldn't want to fight anymore." He just nodded and silently thanked himself that she was on his side and from what he could tell, mostly sane.

Several days later they reach Highever and of course she was impressed. As funny as it was to watch her gape at everything, he had his own plans to work on. Like how he was going to get Teyrn Cousland to let his daughter join.


	4. Richer than God

As far Cerain was concerned, the Couslands were the richest and most powerful people ever. In her mind, they were probable richer than the Maker. The city was nice, and all, but their castle was like a city of it's own. Filled with nooks and crannies that made her want to case every square inch of the place. It was beautiful and warm and inviting, the complete opposite of she imagined it be. Part of her wondered if this is what the black city looked like before it was tainted. She must have been gaping because Duncan was chuckling.

"Close your mouth, your drooling." he said giggling like an aprentice made her want to smack him. It wasn't her fault that she had never been in a building that not only had one tower, but by the looks of things, had a least four. A guard had stopped them and said they were to wait before being called in. She overheard snippets of a conversation.

" I'm sorry...delay"

"Quite...Fergus"

"...smell the same"

" Hello Pup...Ostagar"

Then they were sent in. There were two older men, from the grey she guess around Greagoir's age and a woman a couple years older than her. The woman was a littler taller than her and had her dirty blond hair in a quick pony tail. She was in leather armor and had two daggers on her back. Cerain saw the surprise in her blue eyes as they walked in.

" Now Pup, what did your tutor tell you of the Grey Warden?" Cerain guess that Pup was the girl's nickname. She looked thoughtful for a moment and said.

"They are a group of legendary heroes." The Teyrn nodded. She noticed that Duncan perked up right away at what she said. Cerain could practically saw the gear turning in his head. The Teyrn smiled and agreed with her, then he turned his attention to Duncan, and unfortunately her.

"Well old friend, what brings you to Highever. I heard you are looking for recruits. Anyone in particular you have your eye on?"

" I am thinking of Ser Gilmore, but if I can be bold, your daughter is also looking promising." Bam, Duncan had said it. It was now in the open he had planed from the moment he walked in the city. The one-eighty the Teyrn made almost surprised Cerain, almost.

" Now Duncan, as flattering as that is, I not so readily send both my children to war. Unless you plan of invoking the The Right of Conscription." At this point the Teyrn was standing in front his daughter and was looking like he was slightly regretting letting Duncan stay. His daughter looked at Cerain, then to Duncan, then back to Cerain.

"It's alright father, I don't want to be a Grey Warden." With that the Teyrn visible relaxed and Duncan looked crushed.

"I would never do to that to you Bryce. I will look at Ser. Gilmore and I stay away from your daughter." And with that Duncan crossed his arms and it looked like from her angle, pouted. The other man, who up to this point was quiet asked who she was. Before she could answer, Duncan answered for her.

" This is my recruit from the Circle of Magi. She is a little shy but very good with magic. I had to practically fight to take her out." All Cerain could do was stare...That was a lie. Greagoir and Irving had practically handed her over. They pretty much put a bow on her and said good luck to him. If there had made it any easier, she could have been called a gift.

The man that asked looked at her and frowned. Then asked to retire for the evening so he can find out why his men were taking so long. The Teryn dismissed him and said he would like to spend time with his family and sent for a servant to show us our rooms and to take care of our every need. Cerain spent most of the remanding hours in the library reading and snacking. She had to admit, having a servant was nice. Then the servant led her to her room, and it was right next to Duncan's. She said her goodnight and went to bed wonder what else could happen. She was in the middle of a very nice dream when a loud crash woke her. Duncan barged in, covered in what Cerain hoped was some elses blood. He looked at her a said.

"Howe has betrayed the Couslands, we need to find the Teyrn and his family and get out of here!"


	5. A Second Chance

When Duncan had burst into Cerain's room, and told her what had happened, he expected her to jump up surprise and start moving right away. All she did was stare at him.

" I know who the Couslands are, but who is this Howe and why should I care that he has decided to start a fight with the Couslands? From the look of things, you can handle one man." She stated, giving him a confused look.

" Howe isn't just one man." He explained. " He is an arl and has his own personal army. That what you hear, them fighting. He has knights and from what I can tell, mages roaming the hall killing everything and everyone they come across. We need to leave now!" She looked shocked when he mentioned mages, but she quickly regained her composure and grabbed her staff and robe. She was dressed and ready to fight before they left the hall.

As if the Maker himself was trying to prove him wrong, they only ran across a small group of soldiers, a handful of servants and one mage, who apparently, was an old friend of hers.

" Go ahead, I'll catch up in a few" she said waving him off as he headed towards the kitchen. Not many knew of the secret exit in the larder, but Duncan knew that the Couslands knew, and considering the fact that Howe most likely surrounded the castle and was trying to beak down the front door. Going out the back way was most likely the healthiest option. As he opened the door to the kitchen he heard shouting and a dull pop from behind he looked, he saw nothing, so he continued inside. He could hear hushed speaking coming from the larder and what he saw shook him to his core.

Bryce was on the floor bleeding profusely, Eleanor and and her daughter, Lilly, was leaned over him. Lilly was crying holding her father's hands, trying to convince him to let her drag him to safety and Eleanor was trying to convince Lilly to run with her hound. The hound was sitting there, morosely, nuzzling Lilly in the side trying desperately to get her to move. He placed his hand on Lilly's shoulder and for a moment he thought she was going to stab him.

" I will not survive the standing pup, please...save yourself. The Cousland line mustn't die." Judging from the strained tone, Bryce had been trying to convince his daughter to leave for a while now. She just shook her head and looked at him.

" Where is that mage you brought with you?" It was part question, part accusation. He was going to say he didn't know when Cerain popped in. She was covered in what looked like a fine mist of blood and it hit him, that pop he had heard earlier was the 'walking bomb' spell. She looked exhausted and said,

" Sorry for the delay, got into a fight with an old friend, had to teach him what happens when you work for a child killer and whoa...he looks like crap. Hey buddy, you want that hole in your side fixed?" Not waiting for an answer, she ran over to Bryce and placed her hands on his side.

" I can't guarantee this won't scar, I'm on a novice when it come to healing, but I can stop the bleeding and fix it up." Her hands glowed and for a few tense moments, the room was quiet. Then she sighed and inspected his side. She growled and mentioned something about there still being a mark and asked Bryce if it was sore. He looked shocked and said no, he was weak from blood loss but otherwise he was fine. Lilly took one look at the tired elf and hugged her.

" Come on Pup, we have to get out of here." Lilly smiled and draped her father over her shoulder. Then Eleanor must have noticed how tired Cerain looked and grabbed her. They all squeezed into the secret passage and made their escape. As they ran/ fast walked over to the horses. Duncan looked at the castle.

"So much for getting a second recruit ." He muttered to himself.

"You say something Duncan?" Cerain asked as she helped the weakened teyrn onto a horse. Duncan shook his head." No, nothing at all. We don't have enough horses for all of us so we are going to have to double up and take turns, Bryce and Eleanor can use one horse. Lilly, you can ride with hound can follow us."

" Hey, why does she get the option to ride with you?What am I, chopped liver!" Duncan was going to tell her that Lilly was heir to the teyrn and therefore had riding rights, but then Lilly did something that surprised not only him but everyone there. She draped her arm around Cerain's shoulder and said

" I would be honored to walk beside the mage that saved my father's life."


	6. Of Poison and Frozen Rabbits

The two weeks that it took to get from Highever to Ostagar was the weirdest two weeks in Lilly's life. She wasn't sure how to feel for the first couple of days. She wanted to be angry, stew on Howe's betrayal and get this silly blight business out of the way as fast as she could. She wanted to travel day and night to Ostagar, participate in the battle, and take her brother, their men and march on Highever to take it back. As much as she wanted to do this, she had to think of her parents. Mother was fine but father was going to take at least a couple days before he could fully recover.

It was funny, all father had to do was just mention pain and the mage was on him like flies on honey. She would fuss over him and he would have to fend her off. She remembers the first time Cerain did this. It was the night of their escape and father mentioned that his one leg was falling asleep. Cerain had a funny look on her face and she asked how long this had been happening. Father shrugged and said ever since he was stabbed. Cerain looked like she was going to faint and started to ask father about the stabbing.

" Do you remember anything about the blade?"

"What do you mean? It was a normal dagger. "

"No, not the type of ...did it have anything on it?"

" You mean other than my blood?"

" Yeah, like poison of any kind? When I healed you I might have left whatever was on the dagger in you."

"Not that I noticed, but I confess at the time I was more concentrated on the wielder than the dagger itself. Why do you think I was poisoned? Are you sure it isn't just a side affected of me almost bleeding to death? I have been riding for quite a while." With that Cerain started to blush.

"I'm going to have to see the wound and be the judge of that myself. Can you...ah...lift up your shirt please" She was turning a deep shade of red by the end of the sentence. Mother had cocked her one eyebrow and was staring at her. Father shrugged and lifted the one side of his shirt. The wound was black and had black lines branching from it. Mother gasped and Sam, her hound, whined.

" Looks like Deathroot extract. Can you hand me my travel pack? I have something in there that will fix this right up. I'm so sorry, if I had known it was poisoned I would have done this before I even closed you up." Then she spent several minute apologizing before father stopped her.

" I didn't even know that I was poisoned, how where you supposed to know. You did what you could at the time. Now then, how bad is it?" There was a no nonsense tone in his voice and she went quiet and then nodded. She poked and prodded at the wound, thought for several moments and replied that it wasn't that bad. She dug into her bag and started to mix various ingredients together. While she was working, Duncan came back from the hunt with some rabbits and inquired what was happening. Mother filled him in while she and Sam watched the mage at work. Cerain had an almost calm look on her face as she mixed what looked like random thing together in a beaker. Then she portioned the green liquid into two vials. They seemed to glow in her hands, she corked one and put it in her pack and walked over to father.

"This will most likely will be the worst thing you ever taste, and I mean ever." She said, handing the vial to him.

" You will want to spit it out the moment it come in contact with your tongue, but you can't. You have to drink this or the poison will continue to do damage to your body. The only reason it hasn't done permanent damage to you is because you bled most of it out. If I add anything to this to improve the flavor it won't work, I'm sorry." Father sniffed it and grimaced.

"Yeah, told you it was bad. Try holding your nose, that might help." Father held his nose, shut his eyes and chugged the entire flask. Then he started to choke and gasp for air, his eyes were watering. He looked at Lilly and chuckled a little.

" Reminds me of your cooking Pup." Lilly pretended to act hurt and hit him on the arm. Sam let out a happy bark and nuzzled father. Cerain let out a sigh and told father she will check on him later.

"Lemmie see it. Lets hope and pray for your sake it worked, if not you have to take another dose and we know how fun that will be." Cerain had walked up to father after breakfast, holding the other foul green vial. Father actually looked sick when looking at it. He lifted his shirt and gasped. What had been a large black circle with some lines jutting out was now a large bruise. She went through the same poking and prodding routine as the night before and gave him a clear bill of health.

"You should be fully recovered in several days. Take it easy and you should be fine."

He nodded grinned at Lilly, and for once in what felt like days, she smiled right back.

-DA-

Once father had recovered, they found themselves more relaxed and smiling more. Yes there was a blight and yeah they had been kicked out of the only home she ever known, but for some reason she felt upbeat. It might have been the fact they got more horses and could all ride, greatly increasing the amount of distance they could cover in a day. Or it might have been because father felt better and started to teach Cerain and Lilly how to hunt, giving them something to do at night and that gave a sense of accomplishment. If she had to pick, she would say the hunting, just because of the crazy ways Cerain managed to mess it up.

The poor mage had managed to get caught in one of their traps, accidentally explode a duck, froze a rabbit only to have it defrost in her arms on the way back to came and scare her, and this was just the tip of the iceberg with her. She eventually settled with using Arcane bolt on them after frying a wild boar with lightning. Father laughed and patted her on the back, telling her to tone down the magic. She would pout and grumble, but still go out with her anyway.

When they weren't hunting, Lilly would ask Cerain questions about life in the tower and Cerain would ask about Highever. It was odd, for both women. they found themselves compare each others lives. Sometime mother and father would join in and it became philosophical. Sometimes the entire day would pass with them just talking and only to stop and eat. When they spotted Ostagar in the distance, Lilly felt like she had known the mage all her life. She knew that no matter what happened, Cerain would have her back, and she would have hers.


	7. Ostagar and the Fade

When Cerain saw Ostagar looming in the distance, she had no clue what to expect. Duncan said all the other Fereldan Grey Wardens were already there. He also said the army had won the last several battles. Bryce had mentioned that the king was there. Lilly had mentioned, while blushing, that Teyrn Loghain was also there. When she mentioned the other Teyrn, Eleanor sighed and Bryce shook his head, and confuse Cerain greatly. When she asked Lilly later, she blushed again and she mentioned something about a crush and started to three attempts at said topic and having end the same was she gave up. She was simple going to have to meet the man herself to see what he was like.

When they arrived, a stable boy took their horses and they were greeted by the king and two knights. She noticed that Duncan and the king acted like friends. The king, or Cailan as he insisted he be called, said he was glad to see Bryce but questioned why he brought his wife and daughter with him. Bryce explained the situation at Highever and asked for his son. Cailan mentioned something about him being out scouting then left them before Loghain sent out a 'search party'. Bryce then told Lilly and Cerain that they were going to set up at Fergus' tent and to stay out of trouble, which in Cerain's mind translated into 'get into everything you can'. Duncan told her to find another Grey Warden by the name of Alistair when she is ready to prepare for the Joining. Duncan took Sam with him and Bryce and Eleanor went off on their own leaving Lilly and Cerain alone.

Apparently her father's warning meant the same to Lilly as did to her, because the moment they were left alone she went up to the nearest locked chest and told her to play look out. It didn't matter though because no one looked or seemed to care. Within the hour they had cleaned out every locked chest in the area and the key to one that they will get to later as soon as the one tranquil moved. After cleaning out every chest they moved to talking to everyone they could talk to.

Lilly had dragged Cerain over to a blue tent with an irritated Guard.

" This tent belongs to Teyrn Loghain." She said, blushing. The look on her face must have been funny because Lilly started to giggle. When Cerain demanded answers, Lilly said she wanted to know what she knew about Loghain.

" He helped to push the Orlesians out of Fereldan with Maric. Because of his loyalty and abilities as a General he was given a Teryn. Why?" She just smiled and mentioned something about 'you have to see it to understand it'. Then she sweet talked the guard into getting them an audience with the Teyrn. Lilly never called it sweet talking.

" It's call Coercion silly mage. Sometimes you can't rely on the threat of turning someone into ash to solve your problems. Sometime all you have to do is talk." She of course took it upon herself to teach Cerain how to do this, much to her irritation. But she still learned it. The heavily armored man walking out shook her from her thoughts. He looked exhausted, he had dark circles around his eyes and sounded subdued. He greeted them and made what she could tell was irritated small talk about landsmeets with Lilly and stopped and looked at her.

"Ah, you must be the Grey Warden Cailan met this morning, He was absolutely excited to meet you." The smile that had somehow had found it's way onto her face faltered.

" A feeling you don't share I suppose."

" No, I believe Grey Wardens are useful but not a needed as they insist."

" Why not? From what I have read, they are the only ones that can fight darkspawn without the risk of being tainted. That sounds incredible useful if not downright need." Dead silence. Cerain was mentally kicking herself for her inability to hold her tongue when she saw that Loghain didn't look angry, his one eyebrow was up and he was staring at her with what could be described as a curious look on his face.

" Really...I was not informed of this." She couldn't believe that he didn't know, but then remembered that most people don't obsessively research Grey Wardens. She smiled and asked how much he knew about the Wardens.

"Nothing at all, they did not share their secrets with me,only Maric." He spat out the word secrets like most people spit out bad wine. Her smile grew and she offered to share what she learned from her research at the tower. Next thing her and Lilly knew, they were in his tent and he was sitting across them with a quill and paper. Lilly couldn't stop blushing and Loghain had to remind Cerain to stop staring and to start talking.

" They are immune to the taint and do to whatever secrete training they have, are much stronger then most warriors." She watched as he jotted what she said down and waved his hand in the air to tell her to continue.

" According to at least three mages that I have spoken to that traveled with the Wardens, they can sense darkspawn and tell what they are before they burrow out of the ground." This got a curious look.

" From all the hunting Duncan did, I can safely assume they eat more too. Most likely a response to whatever makes them stronger." Then Lilly added.

" Duncan would toss and turn all night, do you think that relevant?" Cerain thought for a moment and replied.

" It might, maybe they are connected to the darkspawn through the fade and that's how they sense them. I have no clue though and I doubt Duncan will tell me until I go through this ' Joining' of his." She let out an irritated sigh. When she had started to ask any questions about being a Grey Warden he had told her he wouldn't tell her anything until she was a warden too. When Loghain shot her a confused look she explained how Duncan had been stonewalling her and he grimaced. Then he asked about the Joining and she told them what Daveth had told them. He asked her to get back to him after the Joining and led them out of the tent. Then he did something that surprised both of them.

"Thank you Warden for letting me this valuable information. I might to be able to work this into a strategy." She blushed and replied,

"I'm not a Warden yet Your Grace. If you want, I'm willing to let you know what spell I know so you know how to best use me." Then she went quiet and he looked at her strangely, but nodded.

"Winter's Grasp, Lightning, Arcane bolt, Walking Bomb, and Heal Ser."

"I will keep that in mind." Then he went back into his tent and Cerain and Lilly started to giggle loudly. They were still giggling like fools when they approached Alistair arguing with a mage. After the mage left in a hurry, he turned to them and said,

""You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together." She smiled and replied. "I know exactly what you mean."

"Wait, we haven't met, have we? I don't suppose you happen to be another mage?" She couldn't help herself.

"Nope, thought being an elf wasn't hard enough and one day decided to dress up as a mage." Then she burst out laughing. Alister rolled his eyes.

" Oh yeah, your the recruit from the circle of magi.I should have recognized you right away. I apologize."

"And you must be Alistair."

" Oh, you have heard of me. Is your lady friend going to be a warden too?" Lilly shook her head and explained that she was just a friend. He nodded and apologized. Then he added,

"As the junior member of the order, I'll be accompanying you when you prepare for the Joining."

" Pleased to meet you, my name is Cerain."

"You know... it just occurred to me that there have never been many women in the Grey Wardens. I wonder why that is? "

"You want more women in the Wardens, do you?"

"Is that to bad, please stop looking at me like that."

"So, I'm curious: Have you ever actually encountered darkspawn before?"

"No, have you?"

"Yes, and it was a monstrous thing."

"Anyhow, whenever you're ready let's head back to Duncan. I imagine he's eager to get things started."

-DA-

Cerain had developed a new hatred of swamps, yes it had got her the flower to save the dog and yes it did get her to meet Morrigan and the supposed Witch of the Wilds. But all she could think of right now was the fact that her robes had darkspawn gore on it, and where it has seeped through, her skin itched. She was also cover in bug bites, but at least with the bug bites she can heal them. She had to change when she got back and have one of the mages do a quick wash and dry on it so she didn't rip her robes off in frustration in the middle of camp.

She met up with Duncan and they went to the abandoned temple. The Joining was the worst, Daveth died, Ser Jory died and she ended up passing out. When they woke her, her head hurt and her entire body felt drained. She took the amulet they handed her and followed Duncan down to the meeting. She was barely paying any attention to what looked like a fight between Cailan and Loghain. She was to tired to honest care about what they were saying.

Something about Cailan being on the front lines and the Orleasians and Maric, she wasn't paying any attention. She found herself looking at the other occupants around the table. Bryce, Duncan and Lilly was there. Apparently the argument ended and Cailan asked if the Duncan's men were ready. He said yes and Cailan said something about congratulations for her.

" I don't feel special, Your Highness"

" Oh, but you should. The Grey Wardens greatly need people." At this point Loghian butts in and snaps at him about being fascinated to the legend of the Grey Warden and not paying attention to what's happening right in front of his face. They go back and forth until they settle on strategy. She wonders how anything gets solved with them at each others throats. Cailan says he will be with the Grey Wardens and draw out the darkspawn and Loghain's men will flank them. They mention something about a signal fire and Uldred shows up. This surprised Cerain to no end. She had no clue that he was there. Then as if the Maker himself decided to make a bad day worse, The Revered Mother walks up and yells at Uldred for wanting to use magic on something other than Darkspawn. Luckily, she never looks at Cerain and leaves. Cailan asks about the signal and Loghain mentions something about having men there.

" Then we should send our best, The new Warden and Alistair." She wants to say something about being completely useless up in a tower, babysitting a fire when Loghain said that he already had plans for her.

" If she is as a competent healer and fighter as Bryce described her, sticking her in a tower would be a waste. She can stand with my men. That way she can use her magic on the battlefield without the threat of being overwhelmed in the initial charge." Cailan looks like he is going to complain when Bryce offer to take a small battalion of his men if he didn't think Loghain's men and Alistair won't be enough. They go back and forth for several minutes before Duncan mentions the Archdemon and promptly gets told that why they are there. During this entire argument, Cerain is leaning on the table trying to get the headache to go away and Lilly is standing next to her with a supportive arm around her shoulder.

-DA-

Cerain had managed to get a hold of Wynne before going up with Loghain and getting her headache taken care of. She had bought roughly twelve lyrium potions and ten health was standing next to roughly five hundred men. There was a woman who he introduced as Ser Cauthrien, she seemed nice. They waited for about ten minutes before she felt a dull scratching sensation in the back of her head, like a small animal was trying to get out. At first she thought it was her headache coming back, then she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She must have looked shocked because Loghain asked what was wrong.

"This might sound crazy, but I can sense darkspawn nearby, like under our feet." The sensation got stronger and she drew her staff. The men were looking nervous and Loghain looked like he was going to yell at her when the first genlock popped out of the earth, followed by fifty of his friends. The fighting was intense, and by the time all the genlocks, and some hurlocks were killed, some of the men lay dead and the rest were spooked. Loghain was furious.

"There wasn't supposed to be any darkspawn ahead of the horde, they are dumb animals, how could they think enough to even guess we were up here. Let alone attack!" Then it dawned on Cerain.

" Maybe they can sense us like we can sense them! Maybe that's why they knew were to find us. Oh Maker, if we got attack, do you think the people at the tower got attacked too? Do you think that is why they are late with the signal?" It had been an hour and the tower had not once lit up. Loghain sighed and mentioned something about if the signal isn't lit soon they were going to have to leave or risk the entire army. they waited ten more minutes and the tower went lit up.

Cerain drew her staff again and looked at Loghain.

"Prepare the men...for a full retreat."

"WHAT did you just say? Did you just say retreat!" Cerain was furious, as much as she didn't want to run right into battle, she was not going to leave them behind. Loghain simple stated that if he didn't leave, he would lose to many men and leave Fereldan defenseless. She rose to her full height, his shoulders, and stated that she was going to go anyway.

"Are you suicidal! You won't survive a minute down there on your own. They will rip you to shreds." It was odd, for a moment it sounded like he cared.

" I know, but I have to. That's my job, fight darkspawn no matter what. In war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In death, sacrifice. That's the Grey Warden motto and I'll be damned if I'm not going to follow it." She started to walk down this hill. She was terrified, she didn't want to die. She wanted to live and see the world, but she could live with herself if she left them behind. She had taken five steps and Loghain called out to her.

"What could I say to make you stop and not throw your life away?" She thought this was a silly question.

" Nothing, nothing at all. Unlike some of us, I'm actually going to do my job. See you on the other side. May the Maker smile upon you in your future endeavors, because I certainly won't." She had sneered when mentioned the job and smiled as she blessed him. She had turned away from him and prepared to steel herself to her fate when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

" Do you honestly think you have any chance?" She was shocked but quickly composed herself.

" If I can get to the other side and reconnect with Bryce and his forces, then yes, I believe I have a slim chance. Why do you care?" He had an odd look on his face.

" Because, even though I think Cailan is a reckless bastard and deserves to die to his own stupidity, Bryce does not. Now I'm serious here, do you think we have a chance?" She thought for a moment and said with all his men we do.

" It's not a big chance, but it's something." He grimaced and drew his blade and shield.

" May the Maker save our damned souls if we're wrong." She smiled and whispered a quick thank you. He told her not to thank him yet and motioned for his men to charge.


	8. His Warden

When Loghain heard that the Grey Wardens were going to be fighting with them in Ostagar, he was, to put it bluntly, furious. He didn't trust them and their overly secretive ways. But he knew if he tried to send them away, cause Maker forbid he did try, that Cailan would throw what Anora called a ' king sized temper tantrum'. So when Cailan told him about his 'Glorious' meeting with the newest member, all he wanted to do was wait in his tent and hope this ' pint sized beauty' as Cailan had called her would be wise and avoid him. He, of course, was wrong and she had showed up at his tent around noon. What had surprised him was the fact that Bryce's youngest was standing with her and when he criticized her order's worth, she dropped the bombshell that they couldn't be tainted. Then she offered something that no other Grey Warden had offered him before , information on the order.

She had let him record what she said and told him everything she knew. In his mind, the fact that she was willing to share while Duncan had stone walled him made him hate Duncan even more. When he asked for sources, she told him wheree he could find information as well, if he wanted to double check it. It was like the Maker himself answered his prayers and dropped her on his lap. She was courteous and had admitted that Duncan had refused to tell her everything, but promised to tell him everything she learned as she learned it. Then as she left, offered to tell him all the spells she new so he could better utilize her. It was surreal, he wondered if this is what Maric and Cailan felt when Grey Wardens told them their secrets. He felt an odd form of kinship with her. She had shared with him things that no one outside of the order should ever know, and unlike Duncan's dealing with Maric and eventually Cailan, she asked for nothing in return. No special favors or top secret information, or anything of that nature. She had given him this information in the hopes that he will use it to better his plans.

He didn't see her until later that night, after what he guessed was this 'Joining' of theirs. The Grey Wardens had the gall to close off the temple to do this ritual. He knew it was the Joining when Cailan looked exited after chatting with the Warden standing in front of the door.

" It's happening! It's really happening, I wish they let me watch though."

"What's happening Cailan?" Loghain had an idea, but wanted to see what he would say first. Cailan looked like he was going to say something when the Warden he was standing near him cleared his throat and Cailan shot him a apologetic look. The Warden shot him a dark look and turned to a fellow Warden and started to chat. Loghain waved Cailan over and asked in a hushed voice,

" The Joining? Is The Joining happening and that's why they have kicked me out of my own war council?" The moment the words ' The Joining' left his lips, Cailan froze.

" How...How do you know of The Joining. Who told you, I'm sure Duncan didn't or he would have told me. Who told you?" Cailan looked panicked and Loghain wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, he felt great and knew that the Warden that he had chatted with this after noon had been honest with him. It was nice that he had a reliable source on the Grey Wardens. On the other hand, he had no clue what to make of Cailan's and the Wardens neer them's reaction. Cailan looked like he was having a panic attack while the Grey Wardens standing guard looked surprised if not downright scared. Luckily, this awkward silence only last for several minutes before Duncan left them back in. As they walked in, the Wardens that were stand by the door and had heard his question and Cailan's overreaction ran off to tell Duncan. Duncan look shocked and said something to them before sending them away.

It wasn't long before Bryce and his daughter Lilly showed up and the meeting started proper. Duncan had mentioned that he had to get the other Warden and reappeared several minutes later with the girl shuffling behind him. She looked horrible and judging from her body posture, in pain. As much as he wanted to deal with her, Cailan stated that he wanted to stand with the Grey Wardens on the front lines. They got into and argument about it. Cailan pulled the 'remember who is king' line out and squashed any chance of a conversation. He had asked Duncan if his men was ready and had the gall to congratulate the girl. The Warden looked like she was going to collapse, and stated that she didn't feel special, witch got Cailan started on how special the Grey Wardens were and into another fight with him. They fought, spoke strategy, had the Revered Mother show up out of nowhere and talk. when Loghain mentioned the signal fire, he had mentioned that he had some men ready and to not worry.

"Then we should send our best, The new Warden and Alistair." Cailan said confidently. Loghain stopped him and told him he had already had plans for her, and when Cailan pouted, Bryce came for the save and offer himself and his men if that made him feel better. Loghain couldn't help but notice, that during the entire argument. The Warden was leaning heavily on the table and Lilly had her arm around her shoulder.

The Warden, no Cerain ( She had told him about her order and was making a serious attempt being helpful, therefore, not just another one of Duncan's men. To call her Warden felt cold and impersonal. She wasn't just a Warden, she was one of his men too. ) had joined him with his men, she was looking much better. He had introduced her to Ser Cauthrien and she was getting along well with his men. He had told Ser Cauthrien what had happened earlier and told her to keep an eye on the War-Cerain. Roughly ten minutes after the battle started, The War- Cerain had an odd look on her face.

" What's wrong?" She looked him in the eye and mentioned something about feeling the darkspawn burrowing under her feet and drew her staff. He was going to say she was paranoid when they were attacked. He was furious, they hadn't even charged and he was loosing men. She dropped the bombshell that maybe the darkspawn can feel her as much as they could feel them, and started to panic about the tower.

When they had missed the signal and was going to leave to save his troops, she outright yelled at him. When he explained she stood at her full height , his chest, and told him she was going to go anyway. This blew him away and he demanded to know if she knew what she was doing. She had the nerve to quote the motto of the Grey Wardens, witch he didn't even know that they had.

"What could I say to make you stop and not throw your life away?" He had asked. He wanted her to live. She knew things, secret thing he wasn't supposed to know and was willing to still tell him anyway. Also, he caught something else out the corner of his eye. She was holding her staff so hard that her knuckles where white and her staff was shaking. Then it hit him like a ton a bricks when she talked about doing her job and the Maker's blessing.

She was terrified. Her entire body was shaking and she had a small tremor in her voice. The entire time, he had been thinking of her as a Warden, not as a scared girl. She looked younger than his daughter and he felt like a bastard. He was sending a small girl into the battlefield alone with an enemy that won't hesitate to kill her the moment she faulted. He grabbed her by her shoulder before she marched to her death and asked if she had a plan. She looked surprised and mentioned the tower and Bryce. He told her why he was going to help her and she visible looked relaxed. As he motioned for his men to charge she smiled and thanked him. He told her to hold her thanks and started to bark out orders.

-DA-

He had sent some of his men back to got to the tower and took the rest down with him. He had noticed that Cerain never strayed far from Ser Cauthrien. He also noticed that Ser Cauthrien was teaching her things. Like how to dodge and how to find a weakness on an armed enemy. He kept an eye on them as they cut a bloody a bloody swatch through the horde. They were closing in on where Cailan stood when he say something gold fly through the air. He felt his stomach drop. The other must have seen it to and they doubled their effort. When they reached were they had seen the gold land, he heard Cerain yell. He rushed ahead to see what had startled her and found himself staring dumbly in shock at the scene.

Cailan was laying in a crumpled heap several yards away from an ogre. Duncan was laying right next to Cailan and from what he could tell, was missing his head. Cerain let out a strangled cry and started to walk over to Duncan's body. He was going to stop her, but Ser Cauthrien did it for him.

She grabbed Cerain by the shoulders and started to speak to her in a low tone. She shook her several times and told her to morn him later, concentrate on the battle now.

" I know it's hard, but think about the enemy and concentrate on your spells. If not, it will be you on the ground next." Cerain started to sputter and Loghin thought for a moment Ser Cauthrien was going to slap her.

" Stop!"

"But...But...I should have been..."

"Stop right now or I swear to the Maker I will backhand you." This got a shocked look from Cerain.

" Lord Loghain trust you stand by his side, don't prove him wrong." Ser Cauthrien had growled in a low voice to Cerain. She nodded and looked to Loghain.

" I'm going to try and whittle down the Darkspawn to a reasonable number in that direction ( She pointed towards the wilds), can you spare some men? I prefer not to fight alone." It was obvious that she was trying to hold her emotions back with a semi-neutral tone. He nodded and sent twenty men with her. After he lost sight of her head, he looked down at Cailan.

"Maker's breath Cailan, do you have any clue how badly you just screwed over Fereldan?" The only response he got was a cold, empty stare.


	9. Bomb, ice, bolt, zap, heal

Bomb, ice, bolt, zap, heal. That was the only thing going through Cerain's mind. Bomb the biggest one in the group, ice the second biggest, bolt the bombed one, zap any survivors of the blast. Then heal any wounded soldiers nearby, if injured, use health poultice on self. This rhythm was the only thing on her mind and the only thing keeping her knew if she thought of anything else, she would break down. She had to keep her mind off of Dun-...him. Her entire body felt like it was on fire and she thrummed with power. To much lyrium, way too much. She hadn't eaten before the battle and had downed more than twenty lyrium potions and at least a dozen health poultices. It felt like at any momeant, her head was going to detach itself from her neck and her arms were going to fly off into the distance with the next spell she cast. She hoped and prayed that she wouldn't fall apart until the battle was over.

It was funny, when she had started, Loghian's men circled around her in an attempt to protect her. After the first genlock exploded, they all moved next to her. After the fifth, behind her. When she ran out of lyrium and was searching for more through the bodies, one of his men had stopped and asked her what she was doing. She dug the glowing blue vial out of the half exploded remains and held it in his face.

" Looking for this" When he made a face she had pointed at the vial and then pointed at the genlock.

"I need this to do that, understand?" He nodded and asked if she wanted him to get her more. " Yes, and please be careful of the taint. I'd rather not have you turn into a ghoul." He had pointed to some of the men and they scattered. From that point on, through the night, one of Loghain's men would seemingly appear out of nowhere and give her lyrium whenever she ran out. She couldn't help but smile, here were trained soldiers , the supposed best-of-the-best in Fereldan,looting corpses to get lyrium for her.

She paid no attention to how much time passed, or even her surroundings. Only on the darkspawn and the occasional soldier with lyrium. In the back of her mind she remembered what it was called, templar vision. Cullen had explained it to her.

" You cannot see anything else, all you see is your target and your mates. You know there is more, but at that momeant, you don't care." She had thought he was yanking her leg, but as she ran blindly through Ostagar she knew what he meant. When that darkspawn had stopped running towards her but were running away, the thought didn't enter her mind to stop. She ran after them and continued the routine. Bomb, ice, bolt, zap, heal. She would have kept doing this until she ran out of darkspawn if a hand hadn't grabbed her shoulder.

The force jolted her back to reality and she wondered when Ostagar started to look like the swamp. The hand was connect to an arm, and that arm was connected to a scowling man. It took her a minute to remember who he was. The confused look on her face must of bothered him because he had grabbed her other shoulder and started to ask questions. She just stared at Loghain, hearing but not understanding. All she heard was gibberish and her own heartbeat. More shaking and gibberish later and she started to giggle. Loghain looked like he was starting to panic and she tasted a mixture of lyrium and bile. She must have made a face and he tried to get out of the way. Tried being the operative word, she puked all over his legs and her vision got fuzzy. As her legs gave out and she was forcible dumped into the fade for the second time in twenty-four hours, a single thought floated to the surface.

" I wonder how much time in the dungeon you can get for puking on a Teyrn?"


	10. Of Puke and Desire Demons

When one of his men ran up to him in a panic, he had assumed the worse. The War-Cerain had fallen and he was going to have to hope that another Grey Warden will share. The soldier was panting and said Cerain was running after the darkspawn in the swamp. When he asked why the soldier hadn't stopped her, he had said in a small voice that she scared him and judging from her actions, she wasn't in her right mind anymore.

"She didn't respond to any of us and when we tried to step in front of her, she pushed us out of the way and healed us. I don't think she is aware of her surroundings anymore." Loghain grumbled and ran after her. It wasn't hard to tell were she had been, she left an impressive trail of destruction, that and vials. He could see why his men didn't want to mess with her after passing what looked like the fifteenth pile of semi exploded bodies. When he caught up to her, she was halfway through the swamps. He had tried to call out to her, but apparently she hadn't heard him, because she kept going.

When he grabbed her and turned her to face him, she looked horrible. Her eyes where dilated and her face was the same shade of red as her hair. The confused look on her face troubled him greatly.

"Why did you leave my men? What is wrong with you?" Nothing, it was like he had said nothing at all. He shook her and demanded to know what was wrong. She giggled and made a face that he learned to dread as a father and tried to get out of the way. He hadn't moved fast enough and ended up with bright purple goo all over his lower half. Then she she smiled and passed out.

He scooped her up in his arms and sighed. " You better tell me everything when you get up." No response. He started to walk back to Ostagar and found himself walking at a leisurely slow pace to not wake her. He had just arrived at Ostagar when she started to stir. She wasn't fully awake and was looking at him through half opened eyes.

"Who...what...put me down desire demon! I'm onto you! With your cold armor of coldness and your good looks. You work with mouse don't you!" She was slurring badly and not making sense. Then she pressed her face against his chest and murmured that she knew what he was, but was letting him live because his armor was cold and felt good on her face. She had grabbed a braid on the side of his face and was rubbing it when he felt a sharp pain and jerked his hair out of her grasp. She had frozen his braid. She muttered something about him being warm too and wanting to help before slipping back into the fade.

He had walked into the healers tent and when one of the mages tried to take her, she clung to his armor.

"Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! That is my desire demon made of delicious coldness, get your own!" This got a shocked response from the lead healer, an older mage named Wynne. She shot him a knowing look and he shrugged his shoulders. When he walked out, a mage offered to rinse him clean and had sprayed off the darkspawn guts and mage vomit. He wandered around, ordering his troops and found Bryce with his family at the Tower of Ishal. Bryce looked exhausted, Lilly and Eleanor were fast asleep propped up against a support colum.

"They wouldn't leave me. I told them to go back to the tent and they told me they won't go until I go. I must know, is it true what there are saying about Cailan?"

"It is, we didn't get there in time. The fool had already met his end by an ogre by the time we got there." He rubbed he forehead.

" How are we going to fix this Bryce. The bastard had no children."

"I don't know...I..we can work on this tomorrow after we rest and recuperate. I still need to find my son and let him know his is a widower and his son is dead.I am not looking forward to that."

"Go and take your family back to your tent, I'll sweep for survivors."

"Are you sure? I'm not as old as I look Loghain, I can do this."Loghain raised his hand to stop him and pointed out the fact that he was starting to resemble a raccoon. Bryce chuckled and said he did too. They both started to laugh at the absurdity of the situation and Lilly woke up.

"Father, are you done?"

" Yes Pup, Loghain has offered to finish for me." Lilly stretched and woke Eleanor up. Bryce thanked him and left.

He looked around and grabbed the nearest soldier.

" You, how far along are we?"

" We still have to sweep the galley Ser." He sighed, this was going to be a long night.

" Then gather all the men and get to it!"


	11. Warden What?

Cerain felt weak but thankful. According to Wynne, she had consumed a near lethal dose of lyrium. Something she didn't even know was possible for a mage. Also found out she had been asleep for two days and was starving. Alistair had been kind enough to visit and tell her what she should be now experiencing as a Grey Warden. She smiled and filed it away as things to tell Loghain. Wynne had been giving her odd looks now and then but Cerain just ignored it. Lilly had practically tackled her off the bed when she found out that Cerain was a lot had happened while she was out and Lilly wanted someone to gossip with. She had settled in her chair when she noticed the runes on Cerain's cot.

"What are those?" She said pointing at the glowing symbols." Oh, those are fire runes for heat and stout runes for health. That way, as long as I stay in bed, I will stay warm and comfy." Cerain replied. Lilly started to rub her back and 'grimace' in pain. Cerain sighed." You want to lay in the warm comfy bed too I assume." Lilly nodded and Cerain moved over. Before she could say ' come on in' Lilly had burrowed under the blankets and was curled up next to her.

"So, do you want the juicy detail of the last two days sleepyhead?"

" Sure, what's been shaken bacon." This got a fake upset look from her before they both broke into laughter.

"There was heavy losses. Including the king."

" I know that Lilly, I was the first one to spot the body." She snapped. She immediately apologized to Lilly and said that they had found Duncan's body too. Lilly patted her on the head and hugged her. They were quite for a few moments before Lilly spoke about the rumors about Loghain and her.

"They say that Loghain almost also said you had to talk him into charging." Lilly had propped herself up on her elbow and was waggling her eyebrows at Cerain. Cerain rolled her eyes."It's true, but I didn't talk him into it."

"Really...did he say why he was going to leave?"

"Yeah, something about saving his troops to save Fereldan from being defenseless. Said he would loose to many men if he went."

"Reallllly"She said, purposely drawing out the Ls "Loghain is known to be a very stubborn man, if you didn't talk, how did you get him to change his mind?"

"I went anyway, he saw that I was serious and asked what I was going to do. He must have liked what he had heard, because he ordered his men to charge." She had a perplexed look on her face.

"So you bluffed."

"No, I was really going to go on with the plan without him." This got a shocked look from her." You were going to run, head first, into the horde alone! Why? Are you crazy?" Before she could question her mental state any more, she cupped her hand over Lilly's mouth.

" I did it because I know that if I didn't, I would be condemning you and everyone else on that battlefield to death. I could never live with myself if I did that. He could, I couldn't. That's what it came down to. Not sanity or lack there of nor my responsibilities as a Warden. Just my inability to stomach or rationalize murder. Understand?" She removed her hand from Lilly's mouth and waited. Lilly shot her a worried look and said she understood. Next they heard an argument outside the tent and about a little over a dozen well dressed men walked in. At the front of the pack was Loghain and Bryce. The sight of the two of them in one cot got some murmurs and strange looks.

"Pup, what are you doing?"

"Nothing father, why." Lily had put up her most innocent face.

" Your in bed with the Commander of the Grey Wardens Pup, so I ask again. What are you doing?"

"Well if you must know, I'm abusing my friendship to enjoy this enchanted cot and...wait..did you just say she is the Commander of the Grey Wardens!" Cerain looked at them in confusion.

"Alistair is the senior member, isn't he the Commander after Duncan?" She asked. The group started to mummer and one of them she had never seen before stepped forward.

" Alistair cannot become the Commander due to..outstanding circumstances. Which we have to speak to you about. Also the boy had given up his right to be Commander to you. Said something about the swamps and you being better with trouble." Cerain face-palmed and sighed.

"I hope you people know what your doing. I have been a Grey Warden for an astonishingly long four days. Two of which I was unconscious." more murmuring and Bryce smiled at her and said,

"We have utmost confidence in you, I have seen you in action and I see no reason not to trust your judgement. You did manage to save many lives last can we get to the matter at hand Warden Commander?" Cerain let out a soft groaned but motioned them to continue. Loghain stepped forward some and shot her a sympathetic look.

"Now, I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but Alistair has royal blood in him. He is a bastard of the late King Maric and therefore eligible to get the throne." Cerain nodded and motioned for him to continue." As a Warden, he cannot inherit this title, but, if he was relieved of duty, he could. The only people who can do this is the Warden Commander and The First Warden. You must see where we are going with this."

"I do, you want me to give you Alistair. Have you asked his opinion on this? Are you sure you want him as king? If he isn't willing to be Warden Commander, why would he be willing to be king?" The group let out gasps and started to argue amongst themselves.

" It doesn't matter if he wants to, he has to. It's not a choice for him to make. He has Theirin blood in his veins. He will be the king even if we have to drag him kicking and screaming to Denerim. Anora can away teach him how to rule. Maker knows that she has been ruling it the entire time as Cailan ran off to play hero."Loghain snapped bitterly. This shut the group up. Bryce shot Loghain an exasperated look and turned to Cerain.

"We need him, lest we risk civil war. We need the country united to deal with the blight and we can't do that if every Noble is fighting for the crown. Please Warden Commander, Let him go. For the good of all Fereldan." Cerain flinched and Lilly had a shocked look on her face. That was a low blow in her mind, begging and groveling for a single man. She let out an exhausted sigh rubbed her forehead.

"Fine, I relieve Alistair Theirin from duty. May the Maker save his damned soul. Now get out of here before I have Lilly kick you out." The group grumbled and left. As they were leaving, Bryce leaned over and thanked her.

"Teyrn Cousland, if you pull a stunt like that again, I'm going to knock you upside your skull. Don't grovel, it's unbecoming of a man of your status." He raised his one eyebrow " I'll keep that in mind. Pup, your mother has been looking for you. You should go see her. Warden." and with that he ducked out of the got up and started to walk out but stopped near the flap.

"We are going to start searching for Fergus tomorrow, do you think you will be well enough?"

"Unless someone else ambushes me, I should be." Lilly wished her a good night and left. Cerain wondered what she had just done to poor Alistair.

-Author note-

More AU action. I got the idea to enchant the cot from a dream. I mean if they can fold lyrium into anything, why not a bed.  
If your curious about Bryce's actions, I'll let you in on what his reasoning is. The cats out of the bag on Loghain's almost retreat and everyone knows about the much as he wants a Cousland king, he doesn't want to risk fighting with the rest of the nobles. He doesn't know what happened in the tent with Loghain and Cerain because Lilly refuses to talk. He knows that Cerain had no problem telling Loghain to stfu. After spending two weeks traveling with the girl, he knows how to twist her arm into doing things. All he has to do is appeal to her sensitive side and she practically does anything he asks. Yes Bryce is a manipulative bastard, but what do you expect. He is a Teyrn, that's what Teyrns do.


	12. Sly little fox

Lilly was happy for her friend, even if her friend was handling her new promotion badly. She was still sore from the battle, so she slumped slightly when she walked. As Cerain predicted, Alistair handled being made king very badly. He shouted and yelled, then questioned her judgement, then when none of those tactics worked, he begged. And not the 'Please don't do this' kind , he went whole hog ' on knees and praying' kind of begging usually used by the starving and condemned. She had to have Father come in and explain things to him, and even after he admitted it was for the best, he still fought it. This left her friend drained and feeling guilty. Lilly did her best to cheer her up, with limited success.

-DA-

The hound she saved before the battle had survived and imprinted on her, and that made her happy. She named it Ser Jowan. When questioned about the name she said it was a funny story.

" Jowan was my friend in the tower. He was a great herbalist and did well with poisons, but he was horrible with magic. So bad, that we used to joke that he would have made a better templar than mage. Well one time, we had pulled a prank on several templars that were harassing us in the library. We waited until they got up from their chairs and put slow drying glue on their chairs. It worked like a charm but a tranquil had spotted us so we got caught. My punishment was to polish armor and Jowan's was to make mabari crunch to sell. He made so much that he smelt like the crunch for days, no matter how much he bathed. We use to joke that he was in danger of attracting every mabari in the country to the tower with just his smell. Then a templar told us that he smelt more like a mabari than the crunch named after them. We all found it funny, so we started to call him fluffy. The smell went away after a few days, but the nickname stayed. I sorta combined those two seems to like it too,right Ser Jowan?" Ser Jowan let out a happy bark. Cerain had a small smile as ruffled the hound's noted that that was the first time she had seen her friend smile in days.

-DA-

They had sent five search parties out looking for her brother, none of them found she told this to Cerain, her friend placed her hand on her chin and thought for several moments. Then she snapped her figures and said she had an idea.

" I think I know of someone that can find your brother, but it is a long shot. You and your father have to meet me at the gate to the wilds, alone. That mean no troops at all. Can you do this?" Lilly must have looked shocked because Cerain place her hand on her shoulder.

" I would never do anything to harm you or Bryce. The only reason you can't bring your men is because it might scare her away." Lilly said she would talk to her father. She told Father of Cerain's plans and he frowned.

"The only people out in the wilds are Chasind and hedge witches. I don't know what she has planned but I'm willing to try anything at this point." Lilly found Cerain and told her that Father was willing to go. They arrived at the gate and Cerain was already waiting for them.

Father was wearing borrowed heavy plate armor and she had bought some chain mail to replace the worn leather she had escaped Highever with. Her friend was in robes and had her staff slung on her back. She motioned for them to follow as she led them through the swamp. She found herself clutching Father's arm as they went in further and saw more and more dead soldiers. It took a half hour to reach a dilapidated hut with an old woman standing outside. Lilly wondered why the woman had built her hut in the swamp when there was a dry piece of land right next to it.

The old woman, who Cerain referred to as 'Morrigan's Mother' seemed pleased to see Cerain again. Cerain pointed at her father and asked if she saw anyone resembling him, but younger, in the swamps. The old woman tilted her head to the side.

"I might have Warden, and I might not. Why do you care for one soldier? He was no Warden."

"He is my friend's brother. We have to inform him of the situation that his family is in. Now, have you seen him?"

"I might have, with the Chasind. I could get him for you, but you have to offer me something in return. And no money please, Morrigan might be able to be bought off with some shiny coin, but I am not." Cerain tapped her foot and her finger as she thought. The old woman quietly waited, occasionally looking over in her direction. then Cerain went "Ah, ha" and pointed her finger up.

"I can offer you protection!" The old woman chuckled.

"I have little need for protection Warden, almost no one visits me in the wilds. Try again"

"That not what I meant. I meant protection outside the wilds, like if you wanted to go to Denerim or Lothering and not get bothered. I can offer that to you." The old woman cocked her eyebrow.

"And how do you propose that you do that?"

"Make you a Warden, then the chantry can't touch you."

"What makes you think that I want the Taint running through my veins too, Warden?"Cerain smiled.

"You don't have too. All I have to do is claim you are a Warden. We can always skip over the certain things...like The Joining and not tell anyone. You would be a Grey Warden without really being one. All the benefits with none of the risk. We could hold a fake Joining ceremony to make it look like you did it to fool everyone. It's brilliant!" The old woman started to laugh.

"Why you sly little fox! I didn't know you had that in you. Now we need to know if your hounds will tell anyone." She said, looking at Lilly and her father.

"I know the young one is loyal and will not speak a word of this to anyone. But I'm not sure if we should leave the old hound alone or if we should muzzle it before he bites us on our ass later." Father stepped forward and placed his hand on his chest.

"Don't worry Ma'am, this old hound know when to be silent." Satisfied, the old woman turned to Cerain.

"Return to me in one day, bring something to carry the boy in and a competent healer to keep him stable. Now leave me to my work."

As Cerain led them out of the swamps and back to Ostagar, Lilly couldn't help but feel hopeful.

-DA-

Lilly heard shouting coming from the late kings tent.

"The cheating bastard!"

"Maker Loghain, yell any louder and you will wake the dead."

"Maybe that would be good, then I could ask Cailan what in hell he was thinking. Do you see the familiar tone with which the empress writes him, as if my daughter were not already his wife? "

"Yes, I can. As can everyone in earshot, witch I believe is half the camp!"

" Yes, well, maybe I have a reason to be loud. Cailan was going to cast my daughter aside and wed himself to that bitch, Celene. In a single vow, Orlais would claim all that they could never win by war! And what would Ferelden gain? Our fool of a king could strut about and call himself an emperor. I think I have every reason to be loud and angry, as should you."

"I could be loud and angry, I could also be deaf."

" What's the story with the blade?" Lilly was surprised to hear Cerain's voice with Father's and Loghian's.

"Oh, that's Maric's sword. I didn't know anyone had found it. Do you have any clue why he would bring it here, of all places?"

"Maybe he planned on using it."

"Then why didn't he carry it into battle?"

"Saving it for something special?"

"How much do you want to bet that the dumb bastard was saving it for the archdemon."

"It sounds like something he would do."

"It does, doesn't it."

"What are we going to do about this Arl Eamon fellow, sounds like he was pushing Cailan to go through with the plan. Honestly it sounds like he came up with the plan."

"I'm not sure. We could call a Landsmeet and try to bring him to justice."

"Possible, that means I have to go with you to Denerim, doesn't it?"

"It does. I wonder what Eamon will try to get out of this? Blame it all on Cailan, say that he doctored the letters to implicate him and clear himself of wrongdoing?"

"I don't think Cailan was that malicious, or astute."

"Did you just call Cailan gullible?"

"Yes, yes I just did. He came off , as Wynne put it, as an easily excitable puppy. All spunk and happiness. Hell the man said ' Glorious' every five minutes. The only other person I have ever heard use that word was a seven year old back at the tower and he only said it because he heard the king say it. The man was a giant child in a shiny gold suit of armor. "

"I can't argue with that assessment. What now?"

"Now we go and get my son. When he is well enough to travel, we will go to Denerim and figure out what to do there. "

"Get your son? Have you found him?"

"An older woman, one of the hedge witches if I had to guess, offered to get Fergus from the Chasind for us. She said wait a day, and that's what I did. I'm going to get him this afternoon."

"A hedge witch you say, Mmmh. I guess it isn't surprising, it is the Wilds."

"Are you ready to go Cerain, the faster I get my son. The sooner we can leave."

"Sure, lead the way."

" Loghain."

"Bryce, Warden."

-DA-

Lilly accompanied Cerain, Father, Wynne, and a small band of soldiers to The old woman's hut. They had brought a cart to carry Fergus back to Ostagar. The old woman and what apeared to be her grand daughter was standing outside the hut. Cerain ran up and greated the ravan haired woman as 'Morrigan'. Morrigan greeted her, as did the old woman.

The old woman opened the door and told Wynne to go inside and take the boy. As Lilly ran inside to see if it was really Fergus, she saw that Morrigan, the old woman and Cerain were deep in conversation. Father ran with her and they saw him. Fergus was deathly pale. It unerved Lilly, normally Fergus snorred or drooled, sometimes kicked a little. It was useally like watching a mabari sleep. This Fergus barely was breathing, let alone snoring. Wynne said something about a cracked skull and ribs and started to heal him. Lilly heard what sounded like Morrigan yelling something, and then , nothing. Wynne and Father helped carry Fergus out to the cart. Then he motined for Cerain to follow. She said her goodbyes to the old woman, and suprisingly, so did Morrigan. They both caught up to the cart and Cerain shrugged.

"What, she offered to help. I can't turn down help."


	13. The travel north

Fergus Cousland took three days to recover, which was much faster than Loghain's original guess. When the boy was brought in he was pale and listless, Sister and father hovering over him. Eleanor and a pack of healers descended on the boy before he even made it to the healer's tent. Cerain stood outside the tent with a worried expression before being invited in. Bryce had walked out and told her that she was a member of the family too.

As much as Loghain hated leaving Ostagar unguarded, he simple did not have enough men. No one did. His impressive five hundred had been reduced to a pitiful ninety-three, and from what he could gather, he had gotten off easy. Most had lost all or almost all. It was pathetic, Antiva could invade if they wanted to. In the back of him mind he was still kicking him self for charging. If he hadn't he would still have all his men, and Fereldan wouldn't be at the mercy of her neighbors. But, he reminded himself, if he hadn't charged he would have been called a traitor for leaving the Couslands behind. Well that and letting the king die would also look bad too. He had the secret correspondences that Bryce and he were going to use against Eamon and Maric's blade slung on his back. Cerain had offered to store them with the the Grey Warden treaties, but he had talked her out of it. It wasn't a matter of trust, he trusted her with his life. It just felt right, comforting, to always have them on his persons. With these papers, he could put that scheming bastard in his place. Preferable,if he had any say, at the end of a rope.

As soon as Fergus was well enough to travel, they put him on a wagon and left Ostagar. Cerain traveled with Alistair, patrolling for darkspawn and keeping an eye out for bandits. Not that any would pester a group so large, but one could never be to cautious. they made a quick stop at Lothering and left some men behind to protect it and to act as messengers if the horde ever reach the tiny town. In return for the men, one of the templars gave Cerain some old elven boots. While they were in Lothering, they encountered some of Howe's men looking for Bryce. They sounded cocky at first, then saw the fact that the entire army was there and tried to flee. Bryce had them caught and brought to the local estate. Four hours had passed when Cerain and Bryce emerged, dragging the commander out. The man looked absolutely wrecked, both physically and mentally. Both Cerain and Bryce looked content, even happy. They were chatting indifferently about what they had done to the poor sod.

"I didn't know you could do that with healing spells. Quite useful"

"I know right, all spells can be used in many ways. The mage is only limited by the chantry and their imagination."

"I'll keep that in mind. What should we do with him?"

"Send him back with a message. Something like ' try harder' or 'I'm going to rip out your spine and choke you with it'. Something that is threatening but possible to do."

"You can rip someones spine out and choke them with it?"

"Yes, in theory. With a proper use of healing and ice spells, it could be done, maybe. Why, am I giving you ideas?"

"You have no idea. So 'friend' can you do that. Send this message to Howe.' Next time I see him, I'm going to rip out his spine and choke him with it. Then I'm going to fashion a belt out of it and wear it as a warning to others to never mess with the Couslands.' Understand?" The man wordlessly nodded and Bryce had him repeat the message. After he was satisfied, he let him go and the man ran like his head was on fire. Eleanor said something about Bryce being a bad influence, but Loghain knew who the bad seed was.

They took the Imperial Highway north. Loghain used this time to get Cerain away from the group. She apparently had the same idea, because they both lagged behind. Cerain smiled and brought her horse right next to his.

"I'm assuming you want the other half of our earlier conversation."

"That would be nice, I would like to know what Alistair told you. I know he told you things."

"Ahh...Spying on me now, I'm shocked and appalled!" There was humorous tone in her voice that said other wise.

" I was not spying, I was checking on your well being. You mustn't jump to conclusions, people will think your paranoid." She patted him on the arm.

"Well when you put it like that..." He let out an exasperated sigh and she giggled.

" I was right about the eating, and the fade. I have been dreaming of the archdemon and darkspawn every night." He had pulled out the notebook he had used for the first interview and wrote what she had said down.

"I also found out hat in roughly thirty years, I'm going to succumb to the taint in my body and become a ghoul." This made him stop.

" What do you mean, I thought Wardens are immune to the taint?"

"We are, because of the taint in our systems. It protects us but also kills us. The moment we become a Warden, we begin to die. It just take about thirty years to do so. As far as I know, it is the slowest form of execution in existence." It bothered him how calm she was talking of her own death, like it was nothing. It reminded him of the little girl that was ready to throw her life away to save her friends at Ostagar.

" Anything else?" He hoped she said no. Much to his dismay, she didn't.

" Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Grey Warden's are infertile. While it is incredible hard to have a child with a normal person, it is impossible for two Wardens to conceive. Alistair probably shouldn't have a problem because mages like Wynne could help him." Loghain must have looked as shocked as he felt because she was patting on the back and telling him to relax.

"As long as Anora doesn't become a Warden too. They should be able to produce an heir."

"Anything else?" This time, she did say no and they rode in silence.

The silence lasted for most of the day. Then he asked her how she planned on dealing with the blight.

"I'm hoping you will travel with me as I use these treaties."

"Why do you need me. The treaties compel help for the Grey Wardens, not me." she had let him read the ancient documents.

" Because your a Hero and I'm just a young kid running around with old paper."

"I may be a Hero, but your a legend. Warden Commander." Her expression soured as he said 'Warden Commander'.

"Bah. A Legend is nothing but fiction. Someone tells it, someone else remembers it, everybody passes it along. A tale spun one to many times by a minstrel. A hero has some fact to it. Someone still alive to tell the tale proper." He hadn't expected such a bitter response, or one so thought out. They lapsed back into silence. He was the first one to break it.

" I apologize War-Cerain. I sometime forget that here is a person behind the title." A very young person, he said to himself. She snorted and accepted his apology.

" I should be the one saying sorry. Technically, your right. The moment I drank the special warden concoction, I stopped being just me. I became something bigger than me. I became the legend, for better or worse."

"Then what happened to Cerain?" She sighed and for a split second, looked like she was going to cry.

" Cerain Surana died that night. I am not Cerain. I am not an elf nor am I a mage."

"Then who are you?"

"I am a Grey Warden."


	14. Marriage, Magic,and Master Plans

Cerain hadn't set a foot in Denerim ever since a pack of templars dragged her to the tower. She was six at the time. She had burned her tongue on some tea and accidentally froze it trying to cool it down. Her father took one look at her, scooped her up in his arms, and dropped her off in the arms of the nearest confused her, she thought she had done something special. She remembers running up to her father, so proud of what she had done, shoving the frozen cup into his face so he would pay attention to her. The look of horror than grief would always haunt her. She had talked it over with Lilly and agreed it would be good for her to go back to the alienage.'To make peace with the past' as Lilly put it.

When they arrived in Denerim, Loghain and Bryce went ahead to speak with the Queen. By the afternoon, Cerain was informed that she had an audience with the Queen and to report to the palace. To say she was nervous was like saying Loghain scowled somewhat, or that Lilly only had a small interest in lock picking or Cullen had a passing interest in her. As she made her way to the palace, she prayed to whoever would listen that this went well and she didn't end up in the dungeon by the end of the day. As she entered the massive hall, she saw that they had set up a table and a large group of people she did not recognize was already in deep discussion. As she slunk in, the massive doors shut behind her and ever eye at the table was on her, she felt like a trapped animal. Bryce waved her over to his side and introduced her to the Queen. "Greetings your Majesty, uh...um..It..it is nice to met you." Cerain cringed at the fact she had just stuttered in front of the Queen. Maker's breath, she isn't Cullen. She is the leader of the Grey Wardens. The Queen didn't appeared to be bothered.

" You may call me Anora, Grey Warden. May I call you Cerain? From what Father tells me, the situation is dire and we don't have time for formalities." Cerain let out a breath she hadn't known that she was holding and nodded.

" Your Father is correct, with the Darkspawn in the south, Eamon in the West, and Howe in the north I would say the situation is dire, among other things." There was murmuring from the other people at the table.

"Do you have a plan Cerain?" Cerain pulled the map of Fereldan over to her.

"Can I write on this?" Anora handed her a quill and Cerain started to draw out a path.

"As much as I want to go with Bryce and Lilly and drag Howe back here, I have to get to the Dalish before they wise up to the blight and leave Fereldan." She said, connecting Denerim to the Brecilian Forest. She then connected the Brecilian Forest to the Circle Tower.

"Unless something has happened, I'm still on good terms with the Knight-Commander and the First Enchantor, so I should easily get mages. And if I'm lucky and I catch Greagoir in a good mood, some templars to sweeten the deal." She then drew a line from the Circle Tower to Redcliffe.

"I don't know what you guys have planned for Eamon, but I was thinking of arresting him and commandeering his forces. With your blessing, naturally" Anora grimaced at Eamon's name. Cerain next connected Redcliffe to Orzammar.

"The dwarves respect Grey Wardens due to the fact that Wardens go there to die. I see no problem getting support there." Before she could continue, Anora stopped her.

"What do you mean by 'go there to die'?" Cerain kicked herself, Anora didn't know. She sighed, knowing this was going to completely push this meeting off topic. Anora impatiently crossed her arms.

"What I meant was...*sigh* this is going to be hard to explain. When a Warden has been around for so long, the taint in their bodies becomes to much and they start to go crazy. Not 'ha, ha' crazy but 'staby, staby' crazy and become a threat to themselves and everyone around them. They start to become a ghoul,to but it bluntly. And instead of sitting around and forcing their comrades to kill them. They go to Orzammar and do a suicide run into the Deep Roads, trying to take every Darkspawn down with them. That's why the dwarves respect them and that is why I will have no problem enforcing the treaties." You could hear a pin drop in that room. Hell, Cerain was positive she was hearing a fly buzzing around two rooms over. Anora looked at her Father, than at Bryce, then the rest of the room.

"Now as I was saying, the Dwarves won't be a problem. It should only take me several months to do this. Then we can be ready in case the archdemon appears." She said this and she drew a line connecting Orzammar to Dererim, making her route an oddly shaped circle. She waited for anyone to say something, but everyone was silent.

"Ah...guys...any questions?" She waved her hands for emphasis and Anora let out an odd noise.

"How long before this happens to you?" Anora said this while pointing at Orzammar.

"How long before what?"

"Before you go crazy and die?" Cerain rubbed her eyes, she felt a headache coming on.

"According to Alistair, the average is thirty years, but it can be worse for Wardens made during a blight. So I'm guessing around twenty or so years. Relax, if this goes according to plan, Fereldan will be safe by the time my Calling happens." She used a discrete healing spell to squash the budding headache and concentrated on the calming waves. She felt a hand on her shoulder, it was Loghain giving her a curious look.

"Headache." She replied weakly.

"The Calling?" It was Anora again.

"When Grey Wardens go crazy from the taint. Anyone have anything to add to my plan?" She hoped if she changed the topic, they would get off the whole' suicide run'. Luckily for her, they did. Bryce was the first one to speak up.

" If you do not mind Cerain, I would like to acompany you on this trip. For two reason, one to try and keep my family out of danger. I know for a fact that Howe will try to kill me again, I mean when the bastard stabbed me he had the gall to use poison. He may hate my family, but he hates me the most and will ignore them to go after me. Secondly, I would like to bring Howe in to face justice for his crimes. Preferable through blood justice." He grabbed a spare quill and branched from my line to Highever" I know that we can easily grab him at the castle and force him to come with us to Denerim. Between the two of us, and some of our allies, we could successfully break in and drag him out." He was grinned as he talked of what he had planned for Howe. Loghain was next to speak.

" If Bryce is going to handle unfinished business, so shall I." Bryce handed him the quill and Loghain circled Redcliffe and tapped it on the castle." I want to drag Eamon back here by his toes, if I can. He is going to pay for what he was planning. I refuse to give him the chance to run, so I would rather get him myself. If I go with you, it won't arise the same suspicion as if I had travel with a group of my men or by myself." Cerain nodded.

"Anora, may I ask you to do something for me?"

"It depends Cerain."

"Duncan said he had sent word to the Wardens in Orlais, can you let me know if any show up. Stop glaring at me Loghain. If he does, can you look after him. I have questions that only a senior Warden can answer. Will you stop looking at me like the Loghain, I'm only going to ask him questions, not invite any of his friends over. I can only stand one Orleasian at a time." Loghain grumbled but said nothing else.

"Anyone else want to add anything?" when no one did, she asked to be excused and as soon as she was out of their line of sight, ran.

-DA-

When Lilly said' make peace with the past' Cerain though for sure that she was joking, but here she was. Standing in the same alienage that so many years ago she was taken from, and from the looks of things, there was a wedding going on. She had grabbed a tunic from the Grey Warden cache at the palace so people would know what she was, she had it over her robes. The Hahren, if she remembered correctly, approached them.

"May I enquire why the Grey Wardens are visiting, while I have no problem...wait...is that you Cerain? I'll be, it is you! I haven't seen you since you were carted off to the Circle." He warmly embrace her and she was shocked. She was told that people hated mages, and to never bother to find them.

"I'm surprised you recognize me Hahren. What has happened since I left? Is my Father still around?" As much as she hated him, she still wanted to see her father. If for anything, to ask why he had gotten rid of her so fast. He let go of her and sighed.

"I'm afraid not my child, he died several years ago. But your cousins are getting marride today. Soris and Tarra and their betroathed are allready up on the stage. You didn't miss anything." He led them over to the small wodden platform they were preforming the seramony on. She saw her cousins and waved, they waved right back. Lilly was entralled by it and look like she was bursting with questions.

"I will answer every question you have after we leave." She pouted but than laughed. Cerain noticed that poor Soris looked terafied, while calm and collect Tarra looked unafected by her surroundings. The elder walked onto the homemade stage and spoke of traditions and how stong their people are. Then the cleric began the ceramony. Before she could even get into the meat of the speach, three men burst in with guards. From the cloathes, she guessed nobles.

"Grab the whores, we have a party and we need women." She couldn't believe this, they were crashing a wedding for woman to sleep with. She didn't care who he was, she was not going to have her coisins wedding ruined like this.

"Hey you, yeah you with the goatee. What in the Maker's name are you doing? Did your mother forget to teach you class or are you to stupid to recognize a marrage ceramony when you see one?" This got everyones attention and for the second time in two days, she could have heard a pin man with the goatee walked up to her with a disgusted look on his face.

"How dare you speak to me like that you knife-eared whore! I'm the Arl of Denerim, who the hell are you!" He had invadeed her personal space, he was nose to nose with her. She calmly pointed at the tunic.

"Are you blind as well as stupid? I'm the Commander of the Fereldan Grey Wardens." With this he cautiosly backed up two steps. He sized her up and tried to recover some of his dignaty.

"This still doesn't explain why you are interfearing. One of these bitches attacked me earlier and I have every right to bring them all back to my estae and question them. Right boys!" The two other men grinned and yelled in suport. Having his ego stroked, he turned back to her.

"Also, artn't Grey Warden neutral. That means you can't get involved. Take them." Cerain walked up to him and pointed her finger right infront of his nose so that he would have to be crossed eyed to see it.

"Put them back were they belong, right now! Put them back and get out of here before I do something other than speak." And with that she sent a shock of lightning through her finger and zapped him on his nose. He yelped and jumped back.

"You...your a mage! You can't hurt me, I'll...uh...I'll have you arrested!..Yeah...you can spend time in my dungeon." He was so scared that she could taste it. As she walked closer he would back away, she walked him right into a wall. She leaned in and whispered.

"I fought at Ostagar, I have this lovely spell that when used it reduces the darkspawn to paste, would you like to see it?" She rased her hand to his face and started to let lightning arc from one fingure to the next. It was of the first spells she had learned, and it was reducing the man infront of her to a jibbering mess.

"No...no...of Maker don't kill me...please...oh please don't. I'll...i'll leave them alone. Don't turn me into paste..ple..please. I'll...never come...in here again" Satisfied, she stepped back and he stumbled away from the wall. She pointed to the alienage gates, that were open.

"Get out now! Before I change my mind!" The flustered Arl shackely barked out orders and left. The other two men shrugged at each other and left. The Hahren walked up to her.

"What just happened?"

"I taught him a leson in humility, he shouldn't bother you again." He shook his head.

"Do I want to know?" She thought for a moment.

"No, no you don't. Can the wedding be salvaged?" Hahren looked back at the stage and nodded. everyone let out a sigh of releaf. Lilly patted Cerain on the back.

"You did a good thing right now. Smile, you saved your cousins wedding." Cerain tried to, but all she could do was scowl.

"I hope I haven't made it harder for them. I'm not always going to be here to protect them."

"No one can protect anyone forever, it's up to them to see what they do with what you gave them. All you can do is hope for the best."


End file.
